Chicago City Wire

Former state university employee Kenneth Gehrke, who retired in January 2018, saved $194,747 toward a pension over 34 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Gehrke would collect as much as $5.21 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Chicago City Wire.

The projection assumes Gehrke received $109,575 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 2 years of retirement, Gehrke will have already received $222,437 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the state pension fund.